


Always

by Skylar0Grace



Category: Dark Angel
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-06-05
Updated: 2009-06-05
Packaged: 2017-11-29 17:01:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/689329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skylar0Grace/pseuds/Skylar0Grace
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The repercussions from one moment can last for always.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Always

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by ‘Always’ by Bon Jovi. Thanks to AgentOdie for beta'ing. Set after ‘She Ain’t Heavy’.

* * *

Max ducked underneath the window and waited. Her transgenic hearing could pick up the movement from the guard on the other side who was shuffling from foot to foot to relieve his boredom.

  
“Come on Alec!” Max whispered to herself.  
  
Suddenly a voice came through the guard’s walkie talkie alerting him to an intruder down the corridor. As he ran down the corridor, Max grinned to herself. She stealthily stole into the room and sifted through some documents on the computer. Inserting her USB stick, she copied over the relevant files. As the last document was copying across, Max saw the door knob turn. Ducking underneath the desk, she hoped no one would be any the wiser of her presence.  
  
“Max?” a voice softly called out. Max’s head popped up as Alec closed the door behind him. She grinned.  
  
“I take it I don’t need to save your ass this time?” she asked cheekily.  
  
“Maxie, Maxie, Maxie, you need to find yourself a new hobby…I mean, there is more to this glorious physique than just my ass,” he replied smirking. Max rolled her eyes. The file finished copying and Max removed it from the computer.  
  
“Got it!” she announced quietly.  
  
They both moved quickly across the room and Max opened the door. As she peered out into the corridor, she saw the guard moving towards them. Max hurriedly closed the door and turned around, bumping right into Alec. Max let out a small gasp of surprise as she looked up into his eyes. Max felt her heart pick up the pace and felt the room suddenly become a sauna. Her face flushed underneath his gaze as she unconsciously looked at his lips and moistened her own. It seemed as though she had been looking at him for an eternity and at the same time, just mere seconds, before his hands cupped her face and his lips descended upon hers. It began as a soft, gentle kiss, and before she knew what she was doing, she pushed herself up against him and applied more pressure, kissing him for all she was worth.  
  
Max unexpectedly felt cold as he moved his body away from hers putting some distance between them and she noticed his eyes filled with guilt. Max was momentarily confused before her brain gave her the information she was looking for: Logan. She saw his eyes searching hers until a look of realisation passed over her face and he turned his head and closed his eyes, pain splashed across his face.  
  
Max turned around quickly and opened the door softly, hoping that the guard was no longer in sight. As she peered out, relief washed over. Trusting that he was following, she slipped out of the room and quietly out of the building. As they reached their motorbikes, Max turned to Alec.  
  
“I’m just going to get this over to Logan’s,” she said, holding up the USB stick.  
  
A flash of hurt swept his face and was replaced by his Manticorian mask so quickly, that had Max not been watching his face so intently, she would have missed it. He stood by his bike, waiting for her next move. Max got onto her Ninja and started the engine.  
  
“I’ll see you tomorrow at work,” she said. A curt nod was his only response before she rode off.  
  
Max rode to Logan’s on autopilot. She wondered if she loved Logan. Surely if she did, then kissing Alec wouldn’t have felt so right to her. His pulling away wouldn’t have hurt so much. As she reached Logan’s door she paused. Closing her eyes and breathing deeply, she entered.  
  
“Hey Max,” Logan greeted warmly. “How did it go? Any problems?”  
  
“No, got the info you needed and was in and out without getting caught,” Max replied, feeling very uncomfortable. She needed time to think and she couldn’t with Logan’s gaze starting to feel as though it was suffocating her. She furtively glanced around the room, even though she knew all the possible exits already. Logan frowned.  
  
“Is everything okay Max?” he asked, worry lacing his voice.  
  
“I kissed Alec!” Max blurted out, instantly wishing she could retract her statement. She watched as first confusion washed over his face, followed very quickly by hurt.  
  
“What?”  
  
Max took a step forward, only to step just as quickly back as she realised she couldn’t get close to him. “I’m really sorry,” Max offered meekly.  
  
“How...when…”  
  
“Tonight. I didn’t mean to, it just sort of happened,” Max replied, realising how stupid she sounded. She watched as he tried to wrap his head around this information. He looked up at her.  
  
“What does this mean?” he asked quietly, sounding as though he were afraid of her answer.  
  
“I don’t know Logan. I’m just very confused. I just can’t do this thing with you. It’s not fair to you if I don’t know what is going on in my head. I just need some time to sort through everything.” Max looked at him imploringly. Logan turned back to his computer, all emotion gone from his voice.  
  
“Sure, take what ever time you need. Thanks for this info. It will come in handy.” He began sifting through the new information. Max opened her mouth to apologise but took note of his body language and decided it would be best not to.  
  
Max took the elevator down to the lobby and played the conversation out again in her head. She chastised herself for handling it so poorly. She hadn’t meant to blurt it out, she had wanted to go to the Space Needle and think about everything. Sort it out by herself first. Sort out what to do. As she walked to her Ninja, she felt the need to distance herself from the situation for a little while; forget about things and reassess later. She decided to go to Joshua’s.  
  
As she entered the house, she was hit with the familiar scent of paint fumes. She entered the lounge room and saw Joshua painting on a canvas, placing a few strokes before standing back to look at his work and then placing a few more. As she looked at the canvas, she saw mostly blue with a few patches of red and black.  
  
“Hey Joshua!” Max said softly. Joshua turned and smiled.  
  
“Little fella!” Joshua exclaimed before enveloping her in a hug she hoped wouldn’t place paint on her clothes.  
  
“What are you painting?” Max asked tilting her head to the side. Joshua stood back and mimicked her action.  
  
“Alec,” Joshua tilted his head to the other side. Max frowned.  
  
“Again?” she asked. “Didn’t you already do one of Alec?” Joshua turned and looked at Max.  
  
“Alec different now. Alec hurt,” Max’s eyes widened in horror.  
  
“Alec’s hurt?” she asked hurriedly, her heart racing in panic.  
  
She had only seen him a short time beforehand and images of him coming off his bike or getting caught by the guards and shot played through her mind. She berated herself for leaving so quickly. Joshua looked across at her.  
  
“Alec hurt here,” he said, placing his free hand over his heart. Max relaxed a little. He pointed at the canvas with his brush. “Alec sad.” He pointed to the blue. “Feeling crushed by darkness.” He stabbed the black with his brush. “Small hope.” He pointed at the red with the end of his brush.  
  
“What’s Alec sad about?” she asked, the end of her sentence cut off by a sudden slow melody coming from the basement. Joshua shrugged.  
  
“Alec came and said ‘hello’ to Joshua and asked to use Father’s piano again. Music different,” he said cocking an ear toward the sound. Max listened and noticed that it wasn’t classical.  
  
“I might go check on him,” Max said. Joshua looked at her a little fearfully, obviously remembering the last time they had interrupted Alec playing and Alec had unintentionally lashed out, scaring Joshua. Max smiled.  
  
“I’ll be okay,” she said softly patting his arm, “It’s different this time.” Joshua nodded warily.  
  
Max opened the door to the basement and sat quietly at the top of the stairs, closing the door softly behind her. The song he was playing came to a close and she noticed that he stopped momentarily before he turned the music sheets in front of him back to the first page and started again. Max was startled slightly when he began to softly sing.

  
_“This Romeo is bleeding but you can't see his blood_   
_It's nothing but some feelings that this old dog kicked up_   
_It's been raining since you left me, now I'm drowning in the flood_   
_You see I've always been a fighter but without you I give up”_   


Max closed her eyes in pain. She could hear the obvious hurt in his voice and the falter when he sang the second line.

  
_“Now I can't sing a love song like the way it's meant to be_   
_Well, I guess I'm not that good anymore_   
_But baby, that's just me”_   


Max opened her eyes in time to see him lean heavily on the piano’s keys as he began the chorus, almost as if they were holding him up.

  
_“And I will love you, baby - Always_   
_And I'll be there forever and a day - Always_   
_I'll be there till the stars don't shine_   
_Till the heavens burst and the words don't rhyme_   
_And I know when I die, you'll be on my mind_   
_And I'll love you – Always”_   


Max smiled softly. She knew that he had always loved Rachel. Probably always would too, if the song was anything to go by.

  
_“Now your pictures that you left behind_   
_Are just memories of a different life_   
_Some that made us laugh, some that made us cry_   
_One that made you have to say goodbye_   
_What I'd give to run my fingers through your hair_   
_To touch your lips, to hold you near_   
_When you say your prayers try to understand_   
_I've made mistakes, I'm just a man”_   


Max suddenly had a sinking feeling that she was the cause of his return to the piano. She hoped that her kiss hadn’t made him feel like he had violated Rachel’s memory. Her heart was aching for him.

  
_“When he holds you close, when he pulls you near_   
_When he says the words you've been needing to hear_   
_I wish I was him 'cause those words are mine_   
_To say to you till the end of time_   
_Yeah, I will love you baby - Always_   
_And I'll be there forever and a day – Always”_   


Max scrunched her brow up in confusion. She knew he didn’t write the song, he was reading the music off the pages. But the lyrics had taken a confusing turn and she hadn’t thought the song was quite appropriate to what his and Rachel’s relationship had been. She could only surmise that it had been a song they had shared at some point and he had kept the music sheets in memory.

  
_“If you told me to cry for you - I could_   
_If you told me to die for you - I would_   
_Take a look at my face, there's no price I won't pay_   
_To say these words to you”_   


Max stiffened slightly when he turned his face slightly in her direction, thinking she had been made. But he didn’t look in her direction and his face returned back to the keys. She relaxed her muscles.

  
_“Well, there ain't no luck in these loaded dice_   
_But baby if you give me just one more try_   
_We can pack up our old dreams and our old lives_   
_We'll find a place where the sun still shines_   
_And I will love you, baby - Always_   
_And I'll be there forever and a day - Always_   
_I'll be there till the stars don't shine_   
_Till the heavens burst and the words don't rhyme_   
_And I know when I die, you'll be on my mind_   
_And I'll love you – Always”_   


The music softly died out and Max paused, unsure if she should make her presence known. She jumped slightly as the silence was broken by Alec loudly sighing.  
  
“What do you think?” Alec asked without turning around and startling Max further. Max stopped like a roo caught in headlights before walking slowly down the steps and coming to stand beside the piano. Alec looked up into her eyes, pinning her with his stare.  
  
“I’m really sorry about tonight,” Max began. Alec shut his eyes and looked down at the keys. “I didn’t mean to upset you. I really didn’t.” She took a deep breath. “I know she meant a lot to you.” Max was surprised as Alec’s head shot up, his face full of confusion.  
  
“What?”  
  
“Rachel.” Alec’s eyes briefly clouded over at her memory. “I know she meant a lot to you.”  
  
“Yeah, she did,” he said softly, looking back at his fingers as they silently moved along the keys in a tune only he could hear.  
  
“Was that a song you played together?”  
  
Max hoped that he didn’t shut her out again. She felt pained that she had caused him so much hurt and was trying to repair the damage. Alec looked up at her confused.  
  
“Huh?”  
  
“It’s just, I figured that was something you used to play together,” Max stammered out. She was completely confounded when he let out a small laugh and shook his head. He looked up into her eyes.  
  
“I didn’t play that for Rachel. I knew you were here, Max. I smelt you as soon as you came in. I played it for you.” The laughter had now disappeared and he held a serious look on his face.  
  
“Oh,” Max said. She tried to recall all of the words of the song, putting into a different context. One about her. Alec gave her a small sad smile.  
  
“I didn’t mean to cause any trouble between you and Logan. I know that I shouldn’t have done that, I just…”  
  
“Did you mean it?” Max asked, cutting him off.  
  
“Mean what?” Alec asked cautiously.  
  
“When you kissed me. Did you mean it?” Max asked.  
  
She had put his soft kiss down to a heat of the moment thing, maybe something to do with their proximity. She held all the guilt for that encounter because she had been the one to deepen the kiss. She hadn’t thought it had meant anything to him. Now she needed to know. Alec closed his eyes and took a deep breath.  
  
“Of course I did Max.” He looked straight into her eyes, wanting to be clear, wanting her to hear him. “I’m in love with you. Always have been, always will be. Ever since the moment you kicked me into your cell door.” He smiled softly. “And I know that you love Logan and I respect that. I’m not asking for anything from you. If you want me to leave, I will, I just don’t want to cause any trouble between you and Logan…” Alec stopped abruptly as Max moved forward. He instantly took a step back. He was really hoping she wasn’t going to kick his ass.  
  
“What are you doing?” he asked warily.  
  
“I was going to kiss you,” she replied with frustration. She saw his muscles relax slightly.  
  
“What about Logan?” he said with a small, almost inaudible sigh. Almost. Max smiled.  
  
“I told him I kissed you,” she said. At his look of surprise she continued. “I told him I couldn’t be with him. I couldn’t be with him if I loved someone else. It wasn’t fair to him or…” Max was cut off as Alec quickly closed the distance between them and silenced her lips with his. It was a slow kiss filled with passion and Max felt like Alec was pouring his heart out to her through their kiss.  
  
Alec pulled back from Max but kept his hands on either side of her face. He waited until her eyelids fluttered open and he smiled.  
  
“Do you really love me?” he asked. She looked him straight in the eyes with a huge smile on her face.  
  
“Always,” she replied, pulling him in for a kiss.

* * *

  
Upstairs, Joshua smiled and put a new canvas on the easel.


End file.
